The verdict?s in: Bomar?s a knucklehead
By Berry Tramel
The Oklahoman
I asked Bob Stoops a tough question a few weeks ago. Is Rhett Bomas rogue or rascal? Typical college kid or knucklehead?
Stoops stuck up for his quarterback. Said Bomar?s transgressions were the product of youth. Said he expected Bomar to overcome his mistakes. Said Bomar was a smart guy.
But Bomar answered the question himself when he accepted unearned money from Big Red Sports/Imports.
The Oklahoma quarterback squandered his crown-prince status. Jeopardized his future. Relinquished his fast track to lieutenant governor or the broadcast booth or a plum coach?s office.
Knucklehead.
Harsh words for a 21-year-old, but proper. The same description doesn?t apply to J.D. Quinn, Bomar?s partner in time. Offensive linemen aren?t depended on like a starting quarterback. Offensive linemen don?t stroll down the same crimson carpet while gridironing as Sooners.
OU quarterbacks enjoy a cushy ride. They are set up often for life. To whom much is given, much is required. Bomar sacrificed his Oklahoma, and who knows what else, future, not to mention the trust of his teammates, when he took the shortcut of booster money.
Since September, Bomar twice was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol. Once was outside his Norman home; once was in front of 19,000 Hornet fans at the Ford Center. The latter incident meant Bomar is either incredibly stupid, which I don?t think is the case, or else he believes the rules don?t apply to him. Now, I think that is the case.
That invincibility paid off for Bomar on the field. He lowered his helmet and fired passes into crowds and played football the way Tony Stewart drives. With flair and with passion and with no restraints. He followed no rules.
And it blew up on Stoops.
Stoops built the newest Sooner monster with quarterbacks remarkably similar in smarts and sense and savvy. Josh Heupel, Nate Hybl and Jason White were not studs of any kind. Physically, Heupel and White were not pro-caliber quarterbacks, and Hybl barely qualified. Arm strength and mobility were not their strengths; accuracy and decision-making were.
But Stoops? quarterbacks 1999-2004 were solid citizens. Guys you could count on. Straight arrows. Cornerstones. Old for their age. Rocks.
Bomar broke the mold. Young, unbridled, wonderfully talented. Mike Gundy said Bomar was the best high school quarterback he?s ever seen.
But Bomar was undependable off the field and too soon to tell if dependable on it. Turns out Bomar was more rogue than young rascal; he self-destructed before he could outgrow his fallacies.
Remember the old Sesame Street song? ?One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn?t the same??
Put Bomar in a lineup with Heupel, Hybl and White, and No. 7 sticks out like grease gravy in a French restaurant.
You can?t blame Stoops for wanting to upgrade the talent. If Bomar had followed the most routine rules, he was headed for stardom. Bomar could have owned this state, at least the crimson side of it. The Schooner ponies would have been renamed Bomar and Sonar.
But Bomar wasn?t like Heupel, Hybl and White. Bomar cut corners. He lived reckless. He didn?t understand that the college life in large part requires patience.
Is it fair and just that all kinds of people are making a big living on college football, but the guys taking all the hits on Saturdays aren?t paid a dime? No.
Just as it?s not fair or just that all kinds of people are making a big living on college in general, but the students taking all the tests and writing all the papers are paying much of the freight.
College, football included, is not the financial reward. It?s not the end of the rainbow. College, football included, is a doorway to success. It?s the path many people must travel to reach life goals.
With a little patience, Bomar could have been en route to the NFL or the state capitol or a television studio chair, just like so many Sooner QBs before him. Instead, he lived reckless. Knuckleheads often do.
By Berry Tramel
The Oklahoman
I asked Bob Stoops a tough question a few weeks ago. Is Rhett Bomas rogue or rascal? Typical college kid or knucklehead?
Stoops stuck up for his quarterback. Said Bomar?s transgressions were the product of youth. Said he expected Bomar to overcome his mistakes. Said Bomar was a smart guy.
But Bomar answered the question himself when he accepted unearned money from Big Red Sports/Imports.
The Oklahoma quarterback squandered his crown-prince status. Jeopardized his future. Relinquished his fast track to lieutenant governor or the broadcast booth or a plum coach?s office.
Knucklehead.
Harsh words for a 21-year-old, but proper. The same description doesn?t apply to J.D. Quinn, Bomar?s partner in time. Offensive linemen aren?t depended on like a starting quarterback. Offensive linemen don?t stroll down the same crimson carpet while gridironing as Sooners.
OU quarterbacks enjoy a cushy ride. They are set up often for life. To whom much is given, much is required. Bomar sacrificed his Oklahoma, and who knows what else, future, not to mention the trust of his teammates, when he took the shortcut of booster money.
Since September, Bomar twice was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol. Once was outside his Norman home; once was in front of 19,000 Hornet fans at the Ford Center. The latter incident meant Bomar is either incredibly stupid, which I don?t think is the case, or else he believes the rules don?t apply to him. Now, I think that is the case.
That invincibility paid off for Bomar on the field. He lowered his helmet and fired passes into crowds and played football the way Tony Stewart drives. With flair and with passion and with no restraints. He followed no rules.
And it blew up on Stoops.
Stoops built the newest Sooner monster with quarterbacks remarkably similar in smarts and sense and savvy. Josh Heupel, Nate Hybl and Jason White were not studs of any kind. Physically, Heupel and White were not pro-caliber quarterbacks, and Hybl barely qualified. Arm strength and mobility were not their strengths; accuracy and decision-making were.
But Stoops? quarterbacks 1999-2004 were solid citizens. Guys you could count on. Straight arrows. Cornerstones. Old for their age. Rocks.
Bomar broke the mold. Young, unbridled, wonderfully talented. Mike Gundy said Bomar was the best high school quarterback he?s ever seen.
But Bomar was undependable off the field and too soon to tell if dependable on it. Turns out Bomar was more rogue than young rascal; he self-destructed before he could outgrow his fallacies.
Remember the old Sesame Street song? ?One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn?t the same??
Put Bomar in a lineup with Heupel, Hybl and White, and No. 7 sticks out like grease gravy in a French restaurant.
You can?t blame Stoops for wanting to upgrade the talent. If Bomar had followed the most routine rules, he was headed for stardom. Bomar could have owned this state, at least the crimson side of it. The Schooner ponies would have been renamed Bomar and Sonar.
But Bomar wasn?t like Heupel, Hybl and White. Bomar cut corners. He lived reckless. He didn?t understand that the college life in large part requires patience.
Is it fair and just that all kinds of people are making a big living on college football, but the guys taking all the hits on Saturdays aren?t paid a dime? No.
Just as it?s not fair or just that all kinds of people are making a big living on college in general, but the students taking all the tests and writing all the papers are paying much of the freight.
College, football included, is not the financial reward. It?s not the end of the rainbow. College, football included, is a doorway to success. It?s the path many people must travel to reach life goals.
With a little patience, Bomar could have been en route to the NFL or the state capitol or a television studio chair, just like so many Sooner QBs before him. Instead, he lived reckless. Knuckleheads often do.
